939
FXUS65 KBYZ 072058
AFDBYZ
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
158 PM MST WED JAN 7 2026
KEY MESSAGES
- FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS ALONG THE
FRONT COULD GUST UP TO 50 MPH WITH LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS
ALSO POSSIBLE.
- LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL WILL CONTINUE OVER SOUTH AND WEST
SLOPES OF THE ABSAROKA/BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS INTO THURSDAY.
- WARM AND MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS ARRIVE FOR THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT
WEEK.
DISCUSSION
TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
A WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THURSDAY BRINGING
A COLD FRONT AND PRECIPITATION CHANCES (10-40%) TO THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE COLD ENOUGH FOR THIS
PRECIPITATION TO BE SNOW. FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY WILL BRING
ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SNOW (10-30%) TO LOCATIONS EAST OF BILLINGS.
BOTH OF THESE SYSTEMS BRING A LOW CHANCE (10-30%) FOR GREATER THAN
1 INCH OF SNOW TO LOCATIONS IN FAR SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND SHERIDAN
COUNTY WYOMING. WEST SLOPES OF THE ABSAROKA/BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS
WILL CONTINUE TO GET LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL THROUGH THURSDAY.
CONDITIONS WILL BE COOLER THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS UPPER LEVEL
TROUGHING MOVES INTO THE REGION. DESPITE THIS, TEMPERATURES WILL
STILL BE NEAR AVERAGE WITH 30S AND 40S F ACROSS THE REGION. UPPER
LEVEL RIDGING RETURNS TO THE REGION OVER THE WEEKEND LEADING TO
HIGH CONFIDENCE IN A RETURN TO MUCH ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S
AND 50S F ARE 15-20 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.
THOUGH GENERALLY DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED UNDER UPPER LEVEL
RIDGING DURING THIS TIME FRAME, DETERMINISTIC MODELS ARE
INDICATING SOME WAVES RIDING OVER TOP OF THE RIDGE. THIS COULD
POTENTIALLY LEAD TO SOME PRECIPITATION CHANCES THOUGH THIS IS
HIGHLY UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME.
UPPER LEVEL RIDGING AND WARM TEMPERATURES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO
CREATE A PERSISTENTLY HIGH FOOTHILLS PRESSURE GRADIENT. THE GFS IS
INDICATING GRADIENT VALUES IN THE 15-20 MB RANGE STARTING THIS
WEEKEND AND LASTING THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. EVEN
THOUGH DETAILS ARE UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME, THIS PATTERN COULD LEAD
TO A PROLONGED PERIOD OF STRONG FOOTHILLS WINDS. THE NBM IS GIVING
DAILY 20-50% CHANCES FOR A WIND GUST OVER 50 MPH. TORGERSON
AVIATION
A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING NW WIND GUSTS 35-45 KTS. A RAIN/SNOW MIX AND BRIEF
VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MVFR/IFR
CONDITIONS. PERIODS OF MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE
OBSCURATIONS. TS
PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS
THU FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 028/041 025/040 032/050 033/052 034/055 040/055 036/055
21/E 01/B 10/B 00/B 00/B 01/E 11/B
LVM 023/034 021/035 027/043 027/048 030/049 034/050 034/052
33/J 11/N 00/N 00/B 00/B 11/E 00/B
HDN 026/041 024/040 029/049 030/054 030/055 037/055 034/054
32/J 11/B 21/B 00/B 00/B 12/W 11/B
MLS 023/039 023/035 024/040 027/050 032/051 035/050 031/046
01/B 00/B 21/E 00/B 00/B 11/E 11/B
4BQ 025/039 024/035 026/041 029/051 031/051 036/050 032/048
12/B 20/B 32/J 00/B 00/B 12/W 21/B
BHK 018/037 018/031 015/034 021/046 026/047 030/045 025/042
00/B 10/B 21/E 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B
SHR 020/037 015/034 020/043 025/053 026/052 030/050 029/050
45/J 32/J 32/J 00/B 00/B 12/W 21/B
BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS
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